The dispute arose after 5-year-old Gabriella Perez told her parents that in March a staffer at Carillon Elementary in Oviedo stopped her from praying over her lunch.

Her father, Marcos Perez, who works for a Christian book publisher in Lake Mary that is promoting a book about the "attack on traditional values" in America, demanded an investigation and apology from the school. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Earlier this month, the girl and her parents described the incident to school officials. According to Lawrence, she was unable to identify a staffer from a selection of photos provided by the district but instead identified an adult from the school's website. The family's attorney had previously described the process as a lineup.

As for the identified staffer, a school-district investigator has concluded that "there is no way possible that person was anywhere near the lunchroom" that kindergartners and first-graders use. In addition to the student and her family, the district has interviewed staffers, the accused adult and Gabriella's classmates, Lawrence said.

The district would not release the name of the adult pointed out by Gabriella because the evidence did not find any wrongdoing. No discipline is forthcoming, Lawrence said.

A district attorney sent a letter to the girl's family and their lawyer outlining the district's conclusions.

"We apologized for the incident she believes occurred, but there was nothing warranted or found" in the investigation, Lawrence said.

In a statement, Jeremy Dys, the family's attorney, said, "We are grateful for the apology offered by Seminole County Schools. The Perez family gladly accepts this apology, along with the assurances to the community by the School Board that students in Seminole County School are free to exercise their First Amendment freedoms while at school."

The girl's allegations spurred national news coverage by Fox News and conservative Christian publications, and the school received threatening phone calls.

"For what the school endured, this is very vindicating," Lawrence said.